Take the Checkered Flag

After spending the day covering the Duke-Navy football game in Durham, I worked up quite an appetite and was looking forward to having some BBQ on the way home to Roanoke. I was traveling with my parents and grandparents and we decided to have dinner at Checkered Pig in Danville, Virginia.

I’d read about Checkered Pig recently in a blog post that highlighted some of the best BBQ restaurants in Virginia, and I believe I’d had some of their food before at a catered event. This was my first time getting to eat in one of the two locations (the other being in Martinsville, Virginia) and it was good to be able to have the full experience of actually eating in the restaurant.

The atmosphere is simple and casual. You order at the counter and the food is delivered to your table. The menu has good variety and the prices are extremely reasonable based on what you order. Most of the sandwiches and smaller options are all between $5 and $8 and the platters are in the $10 - $16 range.

I was quite hungry and wanted to try a few of the different meats, so I ordered the three-meat platter, which came with fries, hush puppies, and my choice of two additional sides. I selected the chopped pork, smoked chicken, and ribs as my three meats and the cole slaw and baked beans as my two other sides. This is a Hungry Man dinner on steroids.

I had no business eating as much as I did, but I didn’t care. The Georgia football team had just lost and I was in mourning, so I decided to console myself by eating a massive amount of food. Of the three meats, the ribs were my favorite. I’d prefer the meat to be a little more tender, but these still had very nice flavor and the sauce had cooked into the meat, providing a nice crust. They didn’t need any extra sauce and the flavors of the pork were able to really stand out. The chopped pork was good, and I especially liked it when mixed with the coleslaw, but I still would go with the ribs if I were only having one meat. The chicken had very nice flavor and was cooked well, but I didn’t understand why they topped it with sauce after it’d already been cooked. The sauce seemed unnecessary and took away from the true flavors of the meat. My dad ordered the beef brisket and it looked like they did the same thing with that. A few dollops of sauce being added like you’d put whipped cream on a piece of pie.

If you can’t tell, I’m a big fan of sauce being added to meat while it's still cooking. I think it allows the ingredients to actually marinate and break down. If you wait until after, the sauce can be overwhelming.For the sides, I already mentioned the coleslaw, but it was definitely the best of all the side dishes. It was finely chopped and sweet and added some great extra flavors to the chopped pork. The baked beans were solid, but I’m not sure what the deal was with the hush puppies. They were soggy and undercooked. I don’t think I’ve ever had a hush puppy I didn’t like, but these wouldn’t rank near the top of the list.

In looking at the menu and on the Checkered Pig website, they boast about their award winning ribs. I could understand that and would recommend them to anyone who stops in for a meal. The other food was good, but the ribs are what would bring me back for another visit.

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From Ballparks to BBQ is a blog that focuses on food, sports, and travel. Whether it's a restaurant review, game preview, or what to do in a city, I'm here to offer my thoughts and suggestions. Learn more >

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